In every sovereign country, there lies territories and borders. There is also typically protocol, rules, and regulations governing the crossing of these borders as well as visitation to or becoming a citizen of that country. In the U.S. this is all governed by federal immigration laws. In steps the immigration attorney.

Immigration attorneys strictly work with immigration situations. Sometimes it is mistakenly a common thought that these attorneys only work for private clients, attempting to enter or stay within the U.S. This is not true. Not only do immigration attorneys represent immigrant clients, but they can also represent the government and the solid application of immigration rules.

Being an Immigration Attorney: What it’s like

Being a respectable immigration attorney involves a genuine passion for the job function. It also involves an ability to be around and sort through great emotions and cases that involve high stakes for families and individuals. A comfort working within the legal system and frequently appearing in court are also natural requirements of such a position. Be prepared for lots of brain work and plenty of rewarding experiences alike.

Educational Requirements

Immigration attorneys are a specialized kind of lawyer. Lawyers go through an intensive educational program before being able to openly practice. For this particular line of law, the candidate must first complete undergraduate schooling with law as the major of focus. Assuming an acceptable GPA and attendance records, the candidate must then locate, apply to, and be accepted into law school. After or during completion of law school, an internship in similar work must be attended so as to gain appropriate, real-life experience.

I Have the Education, How do I get Started?

If you’ve already completed the above mentioned educational and internship hurdles, getting started involves getting case work. Joining the American Immigration Lawyer Association can help with this. You may need to temporarily take cases on a “pro-bono”, or charity basis. Reach out to local firms and find out if they need help with caseloads.

Having covered most of the bases, here are some extra tidbits to consider:

– Immigration law is an ever-changing matter in today’s world. Always be ready and looking for rule changes to the way the game is played.
– Minnesota and many of the states along the West Coast are renowned for immigration law educational opportunities.
– Washington DC and New York are global hubs for all things immigration.
– Comprehensive and up-to-date information is always available at the official United States Department of Homeland Security website.

Immigration attorneys are, to a degree, the overseers of the portal in and out of the United States. Such a career can be demanding, but the rewards are great. This is the world of today’s immigration attorney.

About the Author

Joshua Reitz is a third year college student majoring in history and plans to attend law school upon graduation. He contributes frequently blogs related to his passions of history and law and more of his work can be found at War and Peace: History of U.S. at War.

It seems that as humans, it is hard-wired into our genetics to be territorial, to lay claim to places, property, and even beliefs, and to hold them guardedly. Sometimes this is with good reason, while other times it is not. The ongoing situation of immigration in America could rightfully fit into such subjects.

On one side, there are those who tout legalization of current illegal immigrants, as well as sweeping immigration reform as the ultimate answers to this monumental dilemma. The theory here is that costs will be lower to legalize illegal immigrants. In addition, the possibility of massive increases in American production are said to be great; this due to a large group of people no longer confined to existing in the shadows.

On the polar-opposite side of this debate lies the school of thought that sees legalization as the ultimate mistake. The “thinkers” on this side theorize that natural-born American citizens will have to do without and share what’s theirs even more so as to accommodate a population boom, should legalization take place. It is thought that government benefits, public welfare, and all other like programs will become overstretched and thus lead to some sort of system-wide collapse or pandemonium.

Such is the apparent stance of the Heritage Foundation. Headed by former senator and outspoken legalization opponent Jim DeMint, the Heritage Foundation has recently released a strong line of propaganda, mainly in the form of one internally backed, and quite precarious “study.” In this supposed study, “The Heritage Paper”, conclusions are drawn stating that illegal immigrants cost the U.S. $5.3 trillion less than an equivalent population of legalized citizens. And as cited at The Washington Post, this flawed report further claims that this group of legalized immigrants would ultimately cost the U.S. $6.3 million more in benefit receipt than what they would pay into taxes.

Flawed Study Draws Opposition

Subsequently and quite appropriately, this agenda-based “hack” at legalization has caused a great number of eyes to roll. Respected politicians and experts on both sides of political party lines have sluffed-off this faux study in numbers. According to the Politico article on the subject, the release of this report by the Heritage Foundation had high-profile figures such as Paul Ryan and Haley Barbour immediately thereafter renouncing its accuracy and basis in fact. These and many other prominent figures stepped in to say that this study was flawed because of its ignoring of several key factors that must be considered in accurately theorizing the effects of legalization.

The lesson of this story is fairly simple to discern. If you have an agenda, that’s fine. But don’t get caught offering substance-less “studies” in order to support that opinion. This only goes to refute your reputability in the end.